FAN EXPO Canada 2024: A celebration of video games and gaming culture

For four exciting days each summer, FAN EXPO Canada takes over the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It becomes a lively hub of pop culture, where fans celebrate their favourite films, comics, anime, and video games. As the largest event of its kind in Canada and third largest in North America, it attracts a diverse crowd, from casual gamers to industry professionals.

At FAN EXPO Canada, everyone can celebrate their favourite aspects of pop culture. You can attend panels, enjoy Sketch Duels, and take photos with costumed characters. At this year’s show, the video game industry was represented by the likes of Xbox, Samsung, Outright Games, and Focus Entertainment. Let’s take a look at my favourite video game booths from this year’s event!

Xbox Canada booth at FAN EXPO Canada 2024

The first stop on my video game tour of FAN EXPO Canada was none other than the Xbox Canada booth. Game Pass was the focus of Xbox’s booth with a host of games to play. For those daring enough, fans had the opportunity to challenge professional gamers in the Xbox PC Game Pass Arena. Similar to an eSports arena, there was a stage for competitors and screens to watch the action.

There were two photo opportunities that attracted a lot of fans with upcoming highly anticipated games Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. In the Indiana Jones photo op, you could pose with iconic props like Indiana Jones’ hat, whip, and jacket. The Xbox booth also had a Star Wars Outlaws claw machine. There were several different prizes to win including a plushie of Nix from Star Wars Outlaws.

Additionally, Christiano De Araujo, a Toronto-based Brazilian artist was live in front of the Xbox Canada booth. Christiano was hand-painting an oversized Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 themed Xbox Series S. Watching Christiano paint was truly amazing and inspiring!

Focus Entertainment Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 booth at FAN EXPO Canada 2024

Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive were at FAN Expo Canada 2024 with an exclusive demo of their upcoming game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. In the game you step into the role of a Space Marine, the elite warriors of the Emperor. Marine 2 has a single-player campaign and an online co-op mode for up to three players. You play as Lieutenant Demetrian Titus, joined by two battle brothers, Chairon and Gadriel.

I learned that the campaign is around 12 hours and has an original story set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. You can choose from six different classes—Tactical, Assault, Vanguard, Bulwark, Sniper, and Heavy—and customize their Space Marines and weapons with numerous cosmetic options and skills. The game includes four difficulty modes (Easy, Normal, Veteran, and Angel of Death). And, an Operations mode for cooperative play, where you can earn experience and upgrade your classes with various perks. Additionally, the multiplayer mode called Eternal War features 6v6 battles with different gameplay modes like Annihilation, Seize Ground, and Capture & Control, allowing you to fight for either the Imperium or the forces of Chaos.

From my time with the demo, I was impressed. The game’s visuals, the armour and environments felt true to the Warhammer universe. However, the combat system took a few minutes to get used to. Overall, I was impressed and am looking forward to the game’s release in a few weeks on September 9, 2024.

Samsung Odyssey gaming booth at FAN EXPO Canada 2024

Samsung brought their latest Odyssey gaming monitors and SSD’s to FAN EXPO Canada this year. Let me tell you, they were impressive. I got to see the Odyssey Neo G9 gaming monitor G95NC and played Fortnite on it. Wow! This is a 57″ curved gaming monitor that has some pretty impressive specs such as DUHD (76080 x 2160) resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, and a 1ms response time—this monitor is a thing of beauty! The computer that I played on also had one of Samsung’s SSD 990 PRO NVME 4.0 M.2 internal solid state drives in it. With ultra fast read/write speeds, Fornite loaded up pretty much instantly.

Another flagship gaming monitor from the Odyssey line was on display at Samsung’s booth, the Odyssey Ark Gaming Monitor G970. This massive 55″ monitor features 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, 165Hz refresh rate along with a 1ms response time. It also has a Cockpit mode that allows you to rotate the screen vertically and adjust the height on the stand. It was pretty neat to see all the potential uses that you have with this monitor.

Finally, I checked out the 27″ Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 G60SD Gaming Monitor at Samsung’s booth. This gaming monitor had a beautiful OLED screen, QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution, 360Hz refresh rate, and a staggering 0.03ms response time. Quite impressive! Honestly, any of the three monitors that I checked out at Samsung’s booth are spectacular. Samsung also had pro gamer and special guest Nathan ‘KarQ’ Chan make an appearance two days at the show. Fans, who were brave enough, could face off in Street Fighter 6.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed at the Paramount Plus Lodge

One of the highlights of FAN EXPO Canada 2024 was going hands-on with the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is based on the recent film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Outright Games in collaboration with Paramount Game Studios are developing this game. It’s set to launch on October 18, 2024.

This particular section of the Paramount Plus Lodge where I got to go hands-on with the game was set up just like the turtles’ den beneath the streets of New York City. In addition, there were statues of our heroes in a half shell and I got to meet Donatello and Leonard in real life! Mutants Unleashed has an original story that follows the turtles as they fight against a new mutant threat while pursuing their dreams of going to a regular high school. The game has single player and two-player co-op modes.

All four turtles—Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo are present and playable. The game takes place in New York City and from what I saw and played, it was pretty big. As expected, the gameplay focuses on working together as a team and lets you improve each turtle’s skills using a skill tree. This allows you to gain combat experience (XP) and leveling up friendships with friends that will unlock new locations. From the short slice of the game I played that was filled with a ton of action and co-op fun, I’m even more excited to play Mutants Unleash when it comes out this October.

FAN EXPO Canada 2024 was filled with fans celebrating their favourite films, comics, anime, and video games

Well, that wraps up my time at FAN EXPO Canada 2024. I had a blast visiting all the different video game booths at the show and getting to play some cool video games early! Did you attend the FAN EXPO Canada this year? If so, let me know below your favourite moments in the comments below.

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